Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

297 reviews

aurora4847's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racial slurs, Violence, Islamophobia, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Deportation

jessicapinn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was wild

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting

dkamada's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective tense

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

might_be_may's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Cultural appropriation

drjoannehill's review against another edition

challenging funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Audiobook.

June and Athena are friends and writers. Athena dies and June takes her manuscript, edits it, and gets it published. Cue massive ups and downs as June gradually becomes more and more ensnared in the lie and the paranoia and depression it triggers in her.

This book is a whirlwind of emotions and questions mainly about myself and my feelings about the characters...

Are we on June's side? (Mostly, kind of? Apart from when she is rude to a high school student)
Do we feel sorry for her?
What does it say about me that I would be on her side?
Is this story more about the problems of the publishing industry, media hype about books, and the difficulties of claiming authorship over story ideas?
Does Kuang mean to present June sympathetically or badly?
How does Kuang want us to react to the racism aimed at Asian writers and also to the vitriol aimed at white writers? 
What does she want us to think about racism?!
How much of Athena's story is drawn from Kuang's experience? 
And back to - what are we supposed to think about June?!

This is very different from Kuang's fantasy/magical books. I think I have read everything she's published, this year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'm not sure if I would've finished this book if I had read it physically; the narrator is super unlikable, the plot was quite predictable to me, and the pacing was a bit slow sometimes. But I did finish it, and it was an alright experience overall. I liked the commentary about racism and the book industry, but I think it could have been more subtle. 

A note on the translation: I was very put off sometimes by the decision to translate words to Dutch that we would normally use the English term for, and the inconsistency in which this was done. Sometimes terms were overly explained as well, and I'm not sure if this was the translator's choice, or the author's. 

A note on the narrator: overall, I didn't mind this narrator, but she did pronounce the "tle" in "Chipotle" as in "Aristotle" and I can't get over that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, and Medical content

Minor: Rape and Suicide

vikart's review against another edition

inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yellowface is a wonderfully written work that delves into a lot of topics such as racism, loneliness, the struggles of the writing industry and mental health. It drags you into the story and keeps you there during the entire read. 

[Possible spoiler below]

The ending, however, feels open ended. It leaves the reader to decide whether her life went to ruins or if she crawled back and continued writing as a successful author. And I, personally, enjoyed that. It felt very fitting with the narrative that we had been receiving thus far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Racism

Moderate: Death and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Outing, and War

kittykitkat's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Mental illness, Racism, Stalking, and Murder

confusedteach33's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I loved the premise of this book and found it overwhelmingly clever. I wish, however, that there was a single redeemable character. I’m not even talking about the protagonist, I would’ve settled for one side character being a decent person in this book as a character foil. But honestly every character in this book is not someone you want to cheer for. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Rape

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail